Advice needed - "Late" Rent charges

RobKingston

Hi, (first post, go easy )

I'm currently having trouble with the lettings agents I'm renting through. My rent becomes payable on the 3rd of the month, and I have a standing order set up to pay this, leaving my account on the 29th.

On the 3rd I received a phone call at lunchtime stating my rent had not been received and that I'd be getting a "late rent letter". The money had left my account several days earlier, which I verified using online banking.

Firstly, this is totally unreasonable as the rent had only been due for a few hours by the time they phoned, let alone "late". Secondly, I had paid the rent several days before but because the "3-5 banking days" crossed a weekend the money hadn't reached their account. I don't see this as being my fault.

Thirdly, when the "late rent" letter arrived it stated a charge of £40 would be deducted from the security deposit at the end of the tenancy. There was no mention of this when they phoned. Fourthly, the letter stated the wrong due date (23rd of the month).

Question 1: Can a charge for a single day over the due date possibly be considered reasonable? Even when I'd already paid by bank transfer several days earlier?

Question 2: Is an agent/landlord legally entitled to withold deposit for "late" payments (as opposed to levying a separate charge)?

Any advice would be very much appreciated - I've tried speaking to the agents about this and they are not willing to budge. :mad:

Angela_D_3

Print off your statement showing when it left your account and tell them to refund your money otherwise you'll be deducting it from next months rent.
Have a good look at your tenancy i bet this is all in the small print.

RobKingston

That is of course one option - but if possible I'd like to know where I stand legally first. After all I'll have to live with these people as my managing agents for the forseeable future, and I'm currently on good terms with the landlord (just not the agents).

I fail to see how anyone can charge a late payment fee to someone paying rent four days early by standing order. But that's the sort of company I'm dealing with

They've also failed to renew the gas safety check which I specifically asked about the day I moved in. But that's another matter entirely.

clutton_2

check what is says in your tenancy agreement about charges. if its in there, then you signed it and must pay it. if its not in there, you need not pay it. if a landlord is not providing a corgi gas certificate, he is committing a criminal offence. i suggest you talk nicely to your landlord directly, as he may not know these agents are behaving like this. if there is a problem with the gas, (and there is no certificiate) the landlord is legally responsible as well as the agent, so he could be taken to court also.

RobKingston

clutton wrote:

if its in there, then you signed it and must pay it.

I'm not sure of the exact details right now (I'll check the contract later), but surely there must be a reasonable time period before a charge can be levied? Wouldn't anything else be unreasonable terms and therefore unenforceable - or am I wrong on this?

Phoning on the due date to say a letter's in the post can't possibly be a reasonable period of time.

I will speak to the landlord, as I imagine he's paying a fair percentage in management fees to a company who aren't managing anything except money

clutton_2

i am not defending what is happening here, please believe me, but, if you did not fully read the entire AST before you signed it, surely you cannot now say it is not fair. If these admin charges ARE in the AST- why did you not challenge them on signature and ask for them to be removed at that point ? I have had several tenants ask me the meaning of some clauses, and we have mutually deleted several clauses = and signed to say that. By signing as AST you have signed a legally binding contract. I do agree that this seems harsh, but, the rent is due on the DUE DATE - ie the anniversary of the first signatures on the AST. It is up to the tenant to find a way to compy with this.

Maybe the agent has been cheated in the past, and is now being very diligent. I am currently chasing a 5 month old rent arrears - maybe i should have started on day 1 like this guy, and it may not have gone this far in arrears !!!

Barcode

Sounds like they are trying it on like too many agencies and landlords. Send a copy of your bank statement, and tell them the money must be refunded in seven working days, or you'll deduct £40 from the next rent as already advised by another OP.

You're not responsible for your banks clearing times. The rent has gone through on the last working day before.

The more I learn, and the more I experience, the more I see that good landlords and agencies seem to be rare. Although it could just be the agency. Ours sometimes sends us letters saying we're being charged £15 for them, but we haven't paid and they haven't done anything, probably because such outrageous charges are not legally enforceable.

daveoh_2

This as a penality may be illegal under UK contract law and would need to reflect the real cost to the agency. All the credit card companie recently s had to reduce their late payment fee to £12 max which reflects the real cost to them of processing the late payment. Not a lawyer but personal opinion

noyk

Agencies are facing tough times in a lot of areas at the moment, to make up for it they seem to be screwing their reputation at the moment with practices like this.

RobKingston

As it happens I wrote to the agents saying how unreasonable I feel this is, and they have (grudgingly) agreed to waive the fee if I change the standing order to come out 2 days earlier. Not ideal but at least I get £40 back

Also, I've had confirmation through my work's legal team that an agent/landlord is NOT allowed to use the security deposit for things like this, it's strictly to cover loss/damage to the property of the course of the tenancy.

clutton_2

A deposit is meant to compensate a landlord for breaches of the tenancy agreement by the tenant- such breaches can be many and various.